The weekend of the 18th started off with my second 5 km run of the season, this time in La Crete. My training and effort to get out for a second run obviously paid off as I ran it two minutes faster than the last one as well as I felt better at the end then I did the last time! The other great thing about the run was that I got to share the experience with my supervisor, Nevada, her husband Jeff and their adorable two kids. All of us pushed ourselves and were feeling the reward of completing the run as well as the burn. Also Jeff and their son both won medals for their categories! To celebrate our fitness victories we then went for brunch and to the market in town, as well as stopped by a couple of other spots in La Crete. At this point we also met up with Lily and had a wonderful morning/ early afternoon in town. On the way back from La Crete we stopped with our friends to visit some kittens they were looking at getting for their kids. They left with two kittens and I nearly left with eight! The cherry on top for this wonderful and exciting day was we stopped all together for ice cream on the way home.
Sunday started off a bit slower than the Saturday but ended up being as full with activities, excitement and quality time with friends. Being father’s day, the community was holding a BBQ celebration down at the forks, were the two rivers meet. Lily and I went early to help set up, but as usual we were ridiculous amounts of early, and waited in the car, reading and listening to the radio. When others started to show up we helped unload all of the supplies and started preparing a very large fruit salad and other snacks and drinks for when community members started to gather. After we had help set up and people had started to show up, Lily and I started leading a craft with the kids present. We made kites, it was a windy day. That was great for the flying of the kites later on but not for the making of the kites. By the end however, all kids that wanted a kite had one and the endeavor, I would say, was an overall success. The rest of the day proceeded well, great food, a beauty contest for the fathers, I tried my hand at face painting as well as at ax throwing in the competition and there was a large horseshoe tournament. By the end of the day we were exhausted and I was covered in paint. I had no talent for face painting so I turned the painting over to the kids, Nevada's daughter was more than happy to decorate me.
The next day we accompanied Nevada on a site visit to a known beaver first nation grave site which is in the process of getting recognized and protected. The day was spent pounding stakes into graves and listening to some amazing beaver first nation history from two community members who accompanied us. It was great to get outside and moving as well as it was a very interesting, and spiritual experience. We learned a lot, they also shared their knowledge on other subjects that came up, such as fungus and plant identification and uses.
Tuesday, June 21 was National Aboriginal day, which I had the privilege to spend here in my host community. For this day there were many activities taking place at the school. The activities started off with a feeding of the fire ceremony incorporating all the school children and the community members which attended. The day continued with stations for the kids, including bannock on a stick, beaver language teachings, bracelet making, tipi making, hand games tutorials, snare making and finally ended with a warrior run for the older students. Lily and I wandered the school, offering our services where needed, taking pictures, participating and learning a new thing or two ourselves. The day was hot but the sun was shining and we had a great time as well as all those who participated did as well. At the end of the day however, the cold that had been starting to take root really grabbed a hold of me. After the festivities I tried to sleep off the cold. This worked to no avail, I took some time off from work the next day but came in in time to head to high level with Lily and Nevada to do some map work. Little did we know that we were driving into a horrendous storm. We had to find cover for the car so that it didn't get dented by the hail. Flooding was rampant in High Level, all the emergency services personal from High Level were called into action. Thankfully we got back to Boyer safe and sound at a decent time as there was an award ceremony happening at the school and two of Nevada's kids were receiving awards. We came with them to the ceremony then went home. For Thursday unfortunately I was feeling even sicker and ended up going to the doctor. Turns out I had a lung infection but that is nothing that cannot be taken care of. The rest of the day was spent packing because Friday we left for Hay River. But that is an adventure for another post! Until then.
